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Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs)are a super-charged End-User
Task Analysis technique because only DFDs actually
prompt one through a task analysis (as my previous
post elaborated).
DFDs are not related to anything about design at all.
There is Structured Systems Analysis (SSA) and
Sructured Systems Design (SSD). Data Flow Diagrams
are part of SSA - not SSD. SSA and SSD are two
different things.
And SSA is really Structured System of Tasks Analysis
- not Structured Computer System Analysis. DFDs where
in use for over fifty years before the computer was
invented. Back in the early 1920's, there where no
software functions - just people and the tasks they
performed.
Tony Markos
--- Jon at TaskArchitect <jon -at- taskarchitect -dot- com>
wrote:
....As I see it, hierarchical task analysis has the
advantage of portraying the user's view of the system.
The approach does rely on the quality of the
analyst's interviews and data gathering to fully
understand the ways that the program can be
realistically used. It wll produce a description that
is user focussed and is easy for readers to
understand.
Data flow diagrams are more comprehensive, providing
you can elicit the information from the designers.
I'm not sure that the output is as easy to
comprehend, and does not usually show the system in
the user's terms. But it may be required to meet the
second part of Anna's task - exhaustive feature
documentation.
Horses for cousres. We could have a wider discussion
about task centered vs data centric design - but maybe
not in this forum?
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